House Majority PAC, which spent more than $30 million to boost Democrats in competitive House races last year, made the video featuring Reps. Ami Bera of California, Cheri Bustos of Illinois, Patrick Murphy of Florida, Elizabeth Esty of Connecticut, Raul Ruiz of California, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Sean Patrick Maloney of New York.

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“When we got word that Darth Vader himself, Karl Rove, and the Crossroads was coming in and you had to recruit the team to fight back that Death Star,” Ruiz says in the video. “We fought back, and we won.”

The video states that the congressmen are not asking for funds or donations at the bottom of the screen to show that the group was complying with the law and not coordinating with the campaigns to raise money.

The National Republican Congressional Committee raised questions regarding the legality of the video and hit the congressmen for being hypocritical on their views on outside money.

“This is unprecedented: Members of Congress thanking specials interests and cutting a commercial for an outside group that they are barred from coordinating with,” the NRCC said in an email Tuesday.

House Majority PAC spent big in competitive races, helping members close the gap in terms of advertising, but it was still outspent by GOP outside groups.

“In 2010, so many Democrats were overwhelmed with last-minute expenditures from right-wing outside groups,” said Andy Stone, spokesman for the super PAC, in a statement. “House Majority PAC was formed to make sure that does not happen again. Our role is to hold Republicans accountable and level the playing field and as long as Karl Rove, the Koch brothers, and other dark money groups are going to exist, it’s important that progressives fight back.

“And in the meantime, we’re honored that Republicans think so much of our work,” he added.

Democrats have embraced the concept of super PACs and outside groups in recent months, but the video shows a deeper level of acceptance by the party, said Public Citizen’s Lisa Gilbert.

“It’s probably reflective of how commonplace this is,” Gilbert said. “It’s not surprising that people feel comfortable talking publicly on their acceptance of outside groups.”

Mini Timmaraju, spokesperson for Bera for Congress, said the current campaign finance system forced Bera to accept outside groups and even credit House Majority PAC for his win.

“House Majority PAC is simply leveling the playing field, so that all the outside money isn’t coming from people like Rove, the Koch brothers, and industries like big oil. Congressman Bera would prefer all campaigns to be publicly financed, but the reality is that at least for now we’re living in a post-Citizens United world.”